Windows 9 screenshots leaked showing new features

A fresh set of Windows 9 screenshots have emerged online, giving us an advanced look at some of its features.

The Windows 9 Technical Preview is expected to be made available in late September or early October. But, that hasn’t stopped two German websites grabbing a sneak peak at the software.

Around 20 screenshots from the pre-release software, supposedly from an early build provided to Windows partners, were leaked online showing some key changes arriving in the next iteration of Windows 9.

As you can see, the hybrid Windows Start menu is there, with Metro style icons appearing down the side of the more traditional Desktop Start Menu.

Other new features include a new search icon next to the Start button along the taskbar and then another for a virtual desktop feature – similar to that found on Mac OS X devices.

The virtual desktop feature is demonstrated in one of the slides, with three alternative desktops shown in mini panels at the bottom of the screen.

It looks like Windows 9 will let you run floating apps on the desktop. Within them there are search, share, play and settings options within context menus.

From the looks of it, Microsoft is also tweaking the icons for programs like Desktop and File Explorer to appear more in keeping with the Metro stylings.

Another welcome addition seems to be a Notifications Centre, a la Mac OS X as well, accessible from the system tray on the task bar.

It’ll be interesting to see how these features change as the Technical Preview goes public as this seems to be a very early built of Microsoft’s new operating system.

But, from what we’ve seen so far, Microsoft is doing more to appease desktop users with Windows 9. Read more: Best laptops 2014

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